Revelation 12:7–10
Interpretations
The Christian tradition has stories about angelic beings cast down from heaven by God, often presenting the punishment as inflicted in particular on Satan. As a result of linking this motif with the cited passage of theSatan and his angels rebelled against God in heaven, and proudly presumed to try their strength with his. And when God, by his almighty power, overcame the strength of Satan, and sent him like lightning from heaven to hell with all his army; Satan still hoped to get the victory by subtlety /blockquote> In the ''Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...'' (1911) article "St. Michael the Archangel",Frederick Holweck Frederick George Holweck (born Friedrich Georg Holweck; 29 December 1856 – 15 February 1927) was a German-American Catholic parish priest and scholar, hagiographer and church historian. Monsignor Holweck contributed some articles to the ''Catho ...wrote: "St. John speaks of the great conflict at the end of time, which reflects also the battle in heaven at the beginning of time." He added that Michael's name "was the war-cry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against the enemy and his followers". Several modern Bible-commentators view the "war in heaven" in Revelation 12:7–13 as aneschatological Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that nega ...vision of the end of time or as a reference tospiritual warfare Spiritual warfare is the Christian concept of fighting against the work of preternatural evil forces. It is based on the biblical belief in evil spirits, or demons, that are said to intervene in human affairs in various ways. Although spir ...within thechurch Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ..., rather than (as in Milton's '' Paradise Lost'') "the story of the origin of Satan/Lucifer as an angel who rebelled against God in primeval times." Some commentators have seen the ''war in heaven'' as "not literal" but symbolic of events on earth.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...(LDS Church) teaches that Revelation 12 concerns an actual event in the pre-mortal existence of man. TheBook of Moses The Book of Moses, dictated by Joseph Smith, is part of the scriptural canon for some in the Latter Day Saint movement. The book begins with the "Visions of Moses," a prologue to the story of the creation and the fall of man (Moses chapter 1), a ..., included in the LDSstandard works The standard works of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, the largest in the Latter Day Saint movement) are the four books that currently constitute its open scriptural canon. The four books of the standard works are: * ...canon, references the war in heaven and Satan's origin as a fallen angel of light. The concept of a war in heaven at the end of time became an addendum to the story of Satan's fall at the genesis of time—a narrative which included Satan and a third of all of heaven's angels. Evidence for this interpretation comes from the phrase "the devil and his angels"; this specific phrasing became paramount to the reinforcement of the notion that people associated angels with thedevil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...preceding the writing of Revelation. The LDS Church believes that the war in heaven started in the premortal existence when Heavenly Father ( Elohim) created thePlan of salvation The plan of salvation is a Christian concept regarding God's plan to save humanity from sin and its consequences. It occurs first in the New Testament, for example in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark, although some scholars consider ...to enable humanity to become like him. Jesus Christ as per the plan was the Savior and those who followed the plan would come to Earth to experience mortality and progress toward eternal life. Lucifer, another spirit son of God, rebelled against the plan's reliance on agency and proposed an altered plan that negated agency. Thus he became Satan, and he and his followers were cast out of heaven. This denied them participating in God's plan, the privileges of receiving a physical body, and experiencing mortality.
Seventh-day Adventists
InSeventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ..., theGreat Controversy theme In Seventh-day Adventist theology, the Great Controversy theme refers to the cosmic battle between Jesus Christ and Satan, also played out on earth. Ellen G. White, a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, who wrote several books explaining, ...refers to the cosmic battle betweenJesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...andSatan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehoo ..., also played out on earth. One of the28 fundamental beliefs The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and i ...of Seventh-day Adventists states: :8. Great Controversy: :"All humanity is now involved in a great controversy between Christ and Satan regarding the character of God, His law, and His sovereignty over the universe. This conflict originated in heaven when a created being, endowed with freedom of choice, in self-exaltation became Satan, God's adversary. He led into rebellion a portion of the angels. He introduced the spirit of rebellion into this world when he led Adam and Eve into sin. This human sin resulted in the distortion of the image of God in humanity, the disordering of the created world, and its eventual devastation at the time of the worldwide flood. Observed by the whole creation, this world became the arena of the universal conflict, out of which the God of love will ultimately be vindicated. To assist His people in this controversy, Christ sends the Holy Spirit and the loyal angels to guide, protect, and sustain them in the way of salvation. (Rev. 12:4-9; Isa. 14:12-14; Eze. 28:12-18; Gen. 3; Rom. 1:19-32; 5:12-21; 8:19-22; Gen. 6-8; 2 Peter 3:6; 1 Cor. 4:9; Heb. 1:14.)"
Bible parallels
Parallels are drawn to the passage in that mentions the "son of the morning" who had "fallen from heaven" and was "cast down to the earth". In verse 12 of this passage, theHebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...word that referred to the morning star was translated into Latin as ''lucifer''. With the application to the Devil of the morning-star story, "Lucifer" was then popularly applied to him as a proper name. The term ''lucifer'', theLatin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...name (literally "Light-Bearer" or "Light-Bringer") for the morning star (the planetVenus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...in its morning appearances), is often given to the Devil in popular stories. The brilliancy of the morning star—which appears brighter than all other stars, but is not seen during the night proper—may have given rise to myths such as the Babylonian story of Ethana and Zu, who was led by his pride to strive for the highest seat among the star-gods on the northern mountain of the gods (an image present also in ), but was hurled down by the supreme ruler of the Babylonian Olympus. Stars were then regarded as living celestial beings. The '' Jewish Encyclopedia'' states that the myth concerning the morning star was transferred to Satan by the first century before theCommon Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the o ..., citing in support of this view the ''Life of Adam and Eve The ''Life of Adam and Eve'', also known in its Greek version as the ''Apocalypse of Moses'' (, ''Apokalypsis Mōuseōs''; Hebrew: ספר אדם וחוה), is a Jewish apocryphal group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from aft ...'' and the Slavonic Book of Enoch 29:4, 31:4, where Satan- Sataniel is described as having been one of the archangels. Because he contrived "to make his throne higher than the clouds over the earth and resemble 'My power' on high", Satan-Sataniel was hurled down, with his angels, and since then he has been flying in the air continually above theabyss Abyss may refer to: * Abyss (religion), a bottomless pit, or a passage to the underworld Film and television * ''The Abyss'' (1910 film), a Danish silent film starring Asta Nielsen * ''The Abyss'' (1988 film) (''L'Œuvre au noir''), a French- .... According to Jewish thought, the passage in ''Isaiah'' was used to prophesy the fate of theKing of Babylon The king of Babylon (Akkadian: ''šakkanakki Bābili'', later also ''šar Bābili'') was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon and its kingdom, Babylonia, which existed as an independent realm from the 19th century BC to its fall ..., who is described as aiming to rival God.
Dead Sea Scrolls
Some scholars discern the concept of a war in heaven in certainDead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...: namely, the ''War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness ''The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness'', also known as War Rule, Rule of War and the War Scroll, is a manual for military organization and strategy that was discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The manuscript was among the ...'' (also known as the War Scroll; 1QM and 4Q491–497), Song 5 of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q402), and the Melchizedek document (11Q13). In the War Scroll, according to Menahem Mansoor, the angels of light, who are identified with Michael, the prince of light, will fight in heaven against the angels of darkness, who are identified withBelial Belial ( he, , ''Bəlīyyaʿal'') is a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament which later became personified as the devilSee the reference to "Beliar" in ''The Ascension of Isaiah'', at EarlyChristianWritings.com', specifically at ..., while the Sons of Light fight the Sons of Darkness on earth, and during the last of the seven battles described in the scroll will come and help the Sons of Light win the final victory. James R. Davila speaks of Song 5 of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice as describing "an eschatological war in heaven similar to that found in 11Q13 and to traditions about the archangel Michael in the War Rule and the book of Revelation". He suggests thatMelchizedek In the Bible, Melchizedek (, hbo, , malkī-ṣeḏeq, "king of righteousness" or "my king is righteousness"), also transliterated Melchisedech or Malki Tzedek, was the king of Salem and priest of (often translated as "most high God"). He is f ..., who is mentioned both in the Melchizedek document and the fifth song of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, may be a divine warrior who is involved in the conflict with the archangel Michael in thefuturist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...sense. That the Melchizedek document (11Q13) concerns a war in heaven is denied by Fred L. Horton, who remarks that "there is no hint in the extant portion of the 11Q Melchizedek of a revolt of heavenly beings against the heavenly council, and the only dissenting spirit is the traditional Belial"; the view of Davila, however, is that the document originally was about an eschatological war in heaven, with Melchizedek as angelic high priest and military redeemer.
Depiction
The motif of the fall of Satan and his angels can be found in Christianangelology In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...andChristian art Christian art is sacred art which uses subjects, themes, and imagery from Christianity. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, including early Christian art and architecture and Christian media. Images of Jesus and narrati ..., and the concept of fallen angels (who, for rebelling against God, were downgraded and condemned to being earthbound) is widespread.
Literature
Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...in the 1914 novel ' adapted the Christian references to make a parable about revolts and revolutionary movements. In Milton's ''Paradise Lost'' (1674), the angel Lucifer leads a rebellion against God before theFall of Man The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience. * * * * The doctrine of the .... A third of the angels, including pagan angels such asMoloch Moloch (; ''Mōleḵ'' or הַמֹּלֶךְ ''hamMōleḵ''; grc, Μόλοχ, la, Moloch; also Molech or Molek) is a name or a term which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the book of Leviticus. The Bible strongly co ...andBelial Belial ( he, , ''Bəlīyyaʿal'') is a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament which later became personified as the devilSee the reference to "Beliar" in ''The Ascension of Isaiah'', at EarlyChristianWritings.com', specifically at ..., are hurled byGod In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...from Heaven.
Art
The subject of the War in Heaven has been depicted by many noted artists, both in paintings and in sculptures, including works byPieter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ..., Guido Reni andJacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produce ....File:Rubens-Höllensturz.jpg, War in Heaven by Pieter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ..., 1619 File:St.Michael - Hochaltar 1 Bild.jpg, Michael fights rebel angels, by Johann Georg Unruhe 1793 File:St.Michael - Hochaltar 3 Bild.jpg, Detail of preceding File:Sebastiano Ricci 058.jpg, Michael fights rebel angels, by Sebastiano Ricci, c. 1720 File:GuidoReni MichaelDefeatsSatan.jpg, Michael and Satan, by Guido Reni, c. 1636 File:Cathedral St Michaels Victory.jpg, ''St Michael's Victory over the Devil'', byJacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produce ...at Coventry Cathedral File:Le-Brun-Chute-Dijon.jpg, ''The fall of the rebel angels'', byCharles Le Brun Charles Le Brun (baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French painter, physiognomist, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. As court painter to Louis XIV, who declared him "the greatest French artist of ..., after 1680 File:Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_Bibel_in_Bildern_1860_239.png, Michael and the Dragon. Die Bibel in Bildern (Revelation) engraving by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1860.
Music
A choralantiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominentl ...for the feast ofMichaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, ..., ''Factum est Silentium'', paraphrases the events described in and : ''Factum est silentium in caelo,
Dum committeret bellum draco cum Michaele Archangelo.'' ''Audita est vox millia millium dicentium:
Salus, honor et virtus omnipotenti Deo.
Millia millium minestrabant ei et decies centena millia assistebant ei.
Alleluia.'' Variant 1:
''Dum draco committeret bellum et Michael pugnavit cum eo et fecit victoriam.'' ''There was silence in heaven
When the dragon fought with the Archangel Michael.'' ''The voice of a thousand thousand was heard saying:
Salvation, honour and power be to almighty God.
A thousand thousand ministered to him and ten hundreds of thousands stood before him.
Alleluia.'' Variant 1:
''For a serpent was waging war; and Michael fought with him and emerged victorious.'' The antiphon has been set as a choral motet by a number of composers includingFelice Anerio Felice Anerio (26 or 27 September 1614) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, and a member of the Roman School of composers. He was the older brother of another important, and somewhat more progressive composer ..., Richard Dering,Melchior Franck Melchior Franck (c. 1579 – 1 June 1639) was a German composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was a hugely prolific composer of Protestant church music, especially motets, and assisted in bringing the stylistic innovatio ...,Alessandro Grandi Alessandro Grandi (1590 – after June 1630, but in that year) was a northern Italian composer of the early Baroque era, writing in the new concertato style. He was one of the most inventive, influential, and popular composers of the time, proba ...and Costanzo Porta. Ahymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...written by the German poet and hymnodistFriedrich Spee Friedrich Spee (also ''Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld''; February 25, 1591 – August 7, 1635) was a German Society of Jesus, Jesuit priest, professor, and poet, most well known as a forceful opponent of Witch trials in the early modern period, wit ...in 1621, ''" Unüberwindlich starker Held"'' ("Invincible strong hero"), also makes reference to the Archangel Michael overcoming the dragon. Bach's cantata Es erhub sich ein Streit, BWV 19 is on this subject.
Video games
* The War in Heaven is a 1999 Christian-themed video game developed by Eternal Warriors and published by ValuSoft. *The 2016 video game Stellaris makes reference to the War in Heaven, using it as a unique event when 2 opposing fallen empires (far more powerful than the player) go to war. This is also a reference to the War in Heaven fromWarhammer 40,000 ''Warhammer 40,000'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, .... * The 2020 video game '' Hades'' features a variant called "Aspect of Lucifer" for the protagonist'sautomatic rifle An automatic rifle is a type of autoloading rifle that is capable of fully automatic fire. Automatic rifles are generally select-fire weapons capable of firing in semi-automatic and automatic firing modes (some automatic rifles are capable of .... The weapon's description implies that Satan himself used a form of this rifle in combat during the war in heaven.
See also
*Æsir–Vanir War In Norse mythology, the Æsir–Vanir War was a conflict between two groups of deities that ultimately resulted in the unification of the Æsir and the Vanir into a single pantheon. The war is an important event in Norse mythology, and the implica ...*Asura Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translated ...*Devas Devas may refer to: * Devas Club, a club in south London * Anthony Devas (1911–1958), British portrait painter * Charles Stanton Devas (1848–1906), political economist * Jocelyn Devas (died 1886), founder of the Devas Club * Devas (band), ...*Gigantomachy In Greek and Roman mythology, the Giants, also called Gigantes (Greek: Γίγαντες, ''Gígantes'', Γίγας, ''Gígas''), were a race of great strength and aggression, though not necessarily of great size. They were known for the Giganto ...*Theomachy A theomachy is a battle among gods in Greek mythology. An early example is the Titanomachy (War of the Titans), in which the Olympian Gods fought against the preceding generation, the Titans. The war lasted ten years and resulted in the victory of t ...*Titanomachy In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy (; grc, , , Titan battle) was a ten-year series of battles fought in Ancient Thessaly, consisting of most of the Titans (the older generation of gods, based on Mount Othrys) fighting against the Olympians (t ...
References
Further reading
*Christoph Auffarth, Loren T. Stuckenbruck (Eds.): ''The Fall of the Angels''. Brill, Leiden 2004 (Themes in Biblical Narrative, 6), . *Mareike Hartmann: ''Höllen-Szenarien. Eine Analyse des Höllenverständnisses verschiedener Epochen anhand von Höllendarstellungen''. Lit, Münster 2005 (Ästhetik – Theologie – Liturgik, 32), . *Neil Forsyth, ''The Old Enemy: Satan & the Combat Myth'' (Princeton University Press) 1987.
External links
The Fall of Satan
beliefnet.com
cfdevotionals.org
A Rebellion in Heaven
christiancourier.com
Lucifer
Jewish Encyclopedia
Fall of Angels
Jewish Encyclopedia
War in Heaven
warinheaven.com {{DEFAULTSORT:War in Heaven Biblical phrases Book of Revelation Christian cosmology Christian mythology Christian terminology Eschatology Heaven Michael (archangel) Satan War in mythology